Just how much taxpayer money did each mayoral candidate spend per vote?

At the high end was City Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, who spent $383 in public money for every vote; at the low end was Supervisor John Avalos, who seemed downright thrifty at $17 per vote.

Nine candidates in the 16-person race qualified for and accepted public financing to help fund their campaigns. The amount each candidate receives is based on how much money they raise on their own.

This calculation by the City Insider was based on the vote totals at the end of election day, which included the votes cast Tuesday at the precincts, all the votes cast early at City Hall and all the absentees returned before Tuesday.

We only looked at the first-pick votes assigned to each candidate, and the figures will change as more absentee and provisional ballots are counted. But you get the picture.

Here's a snapshot of what candidates got in public financing versus votes:

Noticeably absent from that roster is Mayor Ed Lee, who refused to take public money and seems to have done just fine without it, as more than $1.3 million poured into his campaign from private donors. Independent expenditure committees also pumped in money to support his candidacy.

Spouting off: Hundreds of City Hall officials and MC Hammer fans filled the Garden Court of the Palace Hotel on election night to celebrate Mayor Ed Lee'salmost-assured win. But first they had to get through the greeters on either side of the entryway: former Mayor Willie Brownand Chinatown power broker Rose Pak.

Both have been distancing themselves from Lee since an independent expenditure group supporting the interim mayor that they're affiliated with drew an investigation by the district attorney for potential voter fraud. But with the election over, they could now be seen embracing Lee - and could tell the media just what they think of the articles that sparked the controversy.

"You newspaper people miss everything!" said Brown, himself a Chronicle columnist. "He's the people's choice. He always was the people's choice."

Across the entryway sat Pak, sipping cranberry juice. "The voters made it clear that they don't respect people who just throw mud," she said.

She said she talked with Lee several times during the final, heated weeks of the campaign and that he didn't let the attacks bother him - but was sad that others had fallen under the media's scrutiny. "He was sad that the Chinatown Community Development Center was brought into it, that Willie Brown was called a crook, that I was called a crook. I was discouraged. I didn't know my middle name was power broker. Who did I broker for?"

Others kept it more lighthearted. MC Hammer, who showed up to DJ the party, said, "It's always fun to participate in the process, right?" And Brown's co-host, Silicon Valley investor Ron Conway, said Lee's apparent victory was "awesome, well deserved and well earned."

Lee showed up toward the end of the party with his wife and daughters and took the stage to say he was humbled and exhausted.

Brown, of course, also took the stage and called Lee "the most powerful Chinese (person) in the world outside of China." But our favorite moment was when Lee gave a shout-out to the DJ, calling him "MC! MC!" apparently thinking that's his first name. As any loyal fan knows, if he goes by one name, it's Hammer.